Improved rural roads will make life safer for migrant farm workers, group says
By Luke Edwards
Cars whizzing by and the memorial at the side of Concession Road 6 were constant reminders of the dangers for pedestrians on Niagara’s rural roads.
It came as members of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change put out calls for all levels of government to improve safety conditions for those who come to Canadian farms each year to help farmers plant, grow and harvest their crops.
“This is how our migrant farm worker neighbours feel every day when they travel our roads,” said Kit Andres, a member of the alliance.
The group spent a day last month installing signs at several sites across the region where farmworkers have been injured or killed while biking or walking. The signs cautioned motorists to “look out for migrant workers” and were made with reflective material to ensure they’re especially visible during night.
While the signs will offer reminders to motorists to be mindful as they drive rural roads, alliance co-executive director Syed Hussan said the focus is on ensuring all levels of government work to address safety concerns for migrant farmworkers. He said it starts at the local level with town and regional councils enacting road safety measures like sufficient shoulders.
Provincially, he said they’re calling on Queen’s Park to conduct a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of workers, such as Sinhue Garcia, who died earlier this year after he was struck by a car along Concession 6 while cycling home.
The group linked road safety for workers with housing and labour rules, saying they’re intertwined. They also renewed calls to strengthen and enforce housing standards, include farm workers in provincial labour laws, and called on the federal government to ensure permanent immigration status for all migrant workers.
“Action must be taken at all levels of government,” he said.
“The near misses and injuries are far more than we see today.”
Signs went up at five sites where farmworkers were killed or seriously injured in recent years. These include the site where Garcia was hit, on Concession Road 7 where a Mexican farmworker and mother of two died after a 2019 hit-and-run, at Lakeshore Road and Townline Road, where another worker was seriously injured following a hit-and-run while walking in 2019, as well as two in St. Catharines: on Seventh Street Lout where one worker died and two were seriously injured in 2022, and at Carlton Street and Dorchester Boulevard, where Ceto Reid was seriously injured coming home from the laundromat.
“Sometimes looking out for our neighbours means speaking up for them,” said Andres, calling Niagara a place where people generally look out for, and help one another.
A combination of working long hours along with a lack of public transportation means workers routinely bike or walk to services, and often late at night or early in the morning when it’s still dark. Some farmers and other groups do offer transportation services for workers, helping them get groceries and access various services. However, many still resort to walking or cycling when needed.
And with farmworker housing often lacking amenities such as washing machines, workers have to head into town to use laundromats or other services.
That’s why the group said improved housing standards and road safety go hand in hand.
The group tried to bring Reid in on a call from his home in Jamaica to share a few words, but the connection failed. A prepared statement from Reid called for more respect and collaboration between local officials and the farmworker community.
“They have to come on board and listen to us. People need to respect farm workers more and what we’re doing for the community,” he said in his statement.
“We are the ones feeding the people, so look out for us. We have to use the roads, we have to live here, we have to work here. Look out for us. We are here.”
Andres said Reid is doing well back in Jamaica, though Hurricane Melissa did affect his community and farm. Reid had been a longtime migrant farm worker, coming to Canada for nearly two decades before the injury.
Hussan said they were focusing their attention on decision makers and policy makers. While he said there are good farm operators who mean well, stronger rules, and consequences for breaking those rules, will ensure all operations treat their workers well.
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